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Less than half of U.S. Christians expect to experience eternal salvation because of their confession of sin and acceptance of Christ as their Savior, while a larger number of professing Christians believe good works will get them into Heaven, a new survey has found. The American Worldview Inventory 2020 survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found that a majority of people who describe themselves as Christian (52%) accept a “works-oriented” means to God’s acceptance. In contrast, a minority of adults (46%) who describe themselves as “Christian” expect to experience eternal salvation because of their confession...

We are all too familiar with the hackneyed charge that thoughts of heaven are delusional. But according to Steven Pinker, they're malignantly so. That’s a new twist. There should be an algebraic equation to calculate something we experience far too often in the public square today. It would determine the ratio between a person’s absolute brilliance in one arena – their uncontested expertise – and their regularly articulated ignorance in others. This would then be multiplied by the confidence with which they say such things. It would be applied to things like Stephen Hawking’s pontifications on subjects such as religion...

Here is the first chapter of a short story I have written. If you like it, Freepmail me and I'll email you the whole book.

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (I Peter 3:18)We have had a very basic look at the Law of God, the Ten Commandments. God has given us his Law, and it is holy, Just and Good. But we have all failed to keep it in perfection. The law is beautiful as an instruction, and as a Revelation of God. It is also a look at what we were actually created to be like. The...

What would I say , if I was given a chance to totally communicate freely with everyone I have ever loved; My brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, acquaintances, former church members, even my enemies ? What would I say if I was given a chance to before I die to put into the barest form, what I long for you to realize? What are my essentials? I believe I should be succinct. I will give you seven things I hope you don’t die without knowing personally, First of all; That Jesus died for us as a substitute, on the cross. I...

I explore Surah 56, which describes the torments awaiting those who reject Islam, and explain why the "paradise" of Islam is filled with unrepentant sin.

Law professor Noah Feldman’s cryptic warnings this week about the afterlife – in the context of the House impeachment hearings – qualify as the most bizarre, um, “argument” yet against those who oppose moving forward with efforts to remove President Trump from office. During questioning with the House Judiciary Committee, the Harvard faculty member (a Democrat operative who has on four previous occasions publicly voiced desire for Trump to be impeached) defended his advocacy for the impeachment (and ultimately, removal) of the president by urging all present to think about meeting “Madison and Hamilton” in the afterlife, “ . ....

I explore the difference between heaven as described in scripture, and paradise as it's portrayed by the perverse prophet of Islam.

The mother of an 18-year-old college student who died by suicide last December, has filed a lawsuit against the Rev. Don LaCuesta, a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Temperance, Michigan, for suggesting at her sonÂ’s funeral that he might not go to Heaven. Linda Hullibarger and her husband, Jeff, whose son, Maison Hullibarger, died by suicide on Dec. 4, 2018, had previously called for LaCuesta to be fired for traumatizing grieving friends and family at his funeral on Dec. 8, 2018. In a statement shortly after the backlash over LaCuestaÂ’s comments, the Archdiocese of Detroit...

Posted on November 14, 2019November 4, 2019 by Msgr. Charles Pope Do You Desire Heaven? Really? This is the eighth in a series of articles on the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.After some sobering reflection on death and judgment over the past several days, itÂ’s finally time to talk about Heaven. Now that is a topic everyone wants to hear about! Yet there is a strange disconnect today. As it becomes easier and easier to satisfy our desire for instant gratification, we find it harder and harder to take the time to ponder a future paradise.Almost...

Pope: Life, Death, Nothingness, Resurrection At the Angelus, Pope Francis proclaims the Christian faith of the Resurrection before the "doubt that touches mankind of all times ... after this earthly pilgrimage, what will become of our life?  Will it belong to nothingness, to death? "  The "clear certainty of Jesus on the Resurrection is entirely based on the fidelity of God, who is the God of life".  A round of applause for a Spanish blessed and a Portuguese saint.  An appeal for South Sudan and Bolivia. Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Life, death, nothingness, resurrection: today, before the Angelus prayer, Pope...

It is no secret that America is polarized. This is a fact that is manifested in so many different ways. Traveling down the highway to Chicago, for example, I came upon two successive billboards that I thought were striking examples of our divided culture. The first billboard caught me by surprise: it consisted of an electrocardiogram of a heart that suddenly stops beating. The caption read: When you die, you will meet God. As we were passing through the snowy night, I was unable to catch more details of this billboard. I do not know who put it out or...

On Hell: Clarity Is Mercy in an Age of “Dare We Hope” On July 13, 1917, Our Lady vouchsafed to the three children at Fatima a vision of Hell (this is the content of the “First Secret”): Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back...

In part one of this post, I looked at the vision of Perpetua—one of the earliest authentic Christian documents to describe directly a Purgatory-like state and to highlight the efficacy of prayer petitions for the dead. Others writing during the patristic age also expounded upon this idea in more or less detail, among them St. Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, St. Augustine of Hippo, and St. Caesarius of Arles. One of the most clear references to Purgatory appears in a late 4th century work by Saint Gregory of Nyssa, entitled: “On the Soul and the Resurrection”. St. Gregory writes: “For...

Dear FReeper who is in hospice, this is what the Lord Jesus through His Word is saying to you: don't give up. Put your trust in Me as your Savior and Lord, and I will deliver you both from your separation from Me through sin and from the sickness in your body. I died so that you can live--both here on earth and with Me when I come to take You Home, to Heaven. I loved you before the world began, and love you not as this world sees love; My Father God is Love, and I and the Father...

Many of us like to blame God for our difficulties. The reason is that it absolves us of responsibility for our bad choices. It also ensures we won’t recover. Nations are groups of individuals clumped together, primarily by geography. In a democratic nation, if a majority of the voting population chooses wisely, the entire nation will benefit from those choices (even those who oppose the choices). In a democratic republic, such as the United States, we are one step removed from our responsibility. We don’t choose the policy directly; we choose the people who in turn choose the policies and...

In a few days, my 81 yo mother will be going to an oral surgeon to have two rotted rear teeth removed. In mid December, my dentist will extract a split tooth of mine. (I'd have it done sooner if not for my commuting schedule and the fact that she is booked solid on the only day of the week I'm available for the next few weeks.)My mom and I are believing Christians (MO Synod Lutherans). Will we Christians get our lost body parts back when God takes us home? Please cite Scripture.I ask this because my belief that we...

Charlene Flores last spoke with her husband over the phone before an emergency procedure to remove their unborn baby. Elesandro Flores Jr. had gone home, at her urging, to make sure their daughters got to school on time. Charlene was admitted to Community Regional Medical Center in downtown Fresno in the early morning hours of Oct. 24, nearly a month and a half before their baby was due, because of pregnancy pains. The pain turned serious several hours later. Elesandro wasn’t able to speak with Charlene when he returned to the hospital. He heard a code-blue alert after her emergency...

It was Jesus who appeared to Thomas. Jesus is a man, and Thomas recognized him. Therefore Jesus retained his gender after his resurrection. Furthermore, Jesus retained his crucifixion wounds further demonstrating he retained his physical characteristics. So, we conclude that we will retain our gender when we are resurrected in our new glorified bodies and go to heaven. But, as I said at the beginning of this article, we will not be married nor will he have any need of procreation. But, some might ask how this is possible since the Bible says... "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there...

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. (Romans 2:28-29)Paul has been discussing the righteous judgment of God, warning those who “rest in the Law” that knowing and even prizing the law does not exempt one from judgment according to truth. This could apply as well to those raised in the christian milieu. Neither baptism,...